Dragon Stuff
by PhoenixofBeautyandPower
Summary: Modern world AU. Aithusa Pendragon is a mute girl, with a happy home life, and not so happy school life. She keeps to herself and tends to avoid conflict wherever she can. But after meeting Ben Solo, her entire life flips upside down, sending her into a spiral of emotion she didn't even know existed. Life isn't always easy, but if you have someone by your side, it can be bearable.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I own no one.**

* * *

 _Freak._ The word was whispered over and over behind Aithusa's back. It had been every day since she had started this school. The young girl flinched and held her books closer to her chest as she made her way towards her locker. She hadn't done anything to bring this on, but it was happening nonetheless. Her long white hair hung down her back in a thick braid, carefully done by her mother that morning. Aithusa reached her locker and began spinning the combination lock. It always took her a few tries to get it right.

By the time the girl had gotten the books she didn't need for homework settled in her locker, the hallway was crowded with other children, laughing and jostling each other. Aithusa closed her locker and tried to vanish into the crowd, pulling the hood of her hoodie up over her stark white hair, which was one of her most distinguishing features. The girl held her bag close. She didn't take the bus with the other children, thank god, but her mother came and picked her up. But during the time that she waited for her mother, there was still a chance that she could be targeted.

Aithusa sat near the steps of the school, anxiously awaiting for her mother to arrive. Children streamed past her, laughing and chatting as they headed for the buses. Aithusa shrank away from them, trying to get as small as possible while still watching for trouble. She spotted one of the students, a black haired, rough and tumble kid that loved to pick on her. She hid her face, shutting her eyes tightly. She heard footsteps and curled up tighter. A gentle hand was placed on her shoulder and Aithusa gasped, eyes snapping open and locking onto the face of her mother.

Morgana frowned as she looked down at her daughter. Aithusa scrambled upright and hugged her mother tightly. Morgana hugged her back. "You alright?" Morgana asked her daughter in concern. Aithusa gave a small nod of assurance and Morgana led her to the car, a protective arm around her the entire way.

* * *

Once they reached their apartment, Aithusa headed straight for the living room. Her older brother was sitting there, playing videogames. Aithusa dropped her bag of homework next to the couch and sat next to him. Mordred glanced over and grinned, pausing his game to hug her gently. "Hey little sis," he said. "How'd school go today?" Aithusa shrugged, snuggling against him.

Morgana watched them from the kitchen, smiling slightly as Mordred handed his younger sister a controller and the two went head to head in Mortal Kombat. The raven haired woman began to make dinner, occasionally glancing at the two children to make sure they were doing alright. Aithusa would occasionally giggle quietly and Mordred would tease her lightly, but they were fine. Aithusa and Mordred were best friends and always would be.

By the time that Morgana was almost done with dinner, Aithusa had drifted to her desk to work on her homework. The twelve year old wasn't abnormally smart or anything, but she worked as hard as she possible could and almost always got A's and B's. There was a knock on the door and Morgana sighed. "Mordred!"

"One minute Mom!" the teenager called. There was another knock and Morgana groaned.

"Now Mordred!" There was a groan as Mordred reluctantly got up and opened the door. "Who is it?" Morgana called, washing off her hands. She got her answer as Aithusa bolted to the door and tackled her father. Merlin chuckled as he hugged the girl.

"Hey darling!" he said cheerfully, kissing the top of her head. "How're you doing?" Aithusa gave a small hum in response, grinning from ear to ear. Morgana walked out of the kitchen and smiled at her ex of about seven years.

"Hey Merlin."

"Morgana," he said, smiling at her. "I'd give you a hug, but I'm a bit uh..." he gestured to the girl hugging him. The woman chuckled. "Don't worry about it Merlin, she's missed you." Aithusa nodded violently and Merlin hugged her closer. Mordred, in the fashion of most teenaged boys, acted like his father coming home after at least a half a year of traveling wasn't a big deal. However, by the time Merlin put Aithusa down, Mordred was hugging him happily.

Aithusa ran back over to her mother and began signing up at her happily. Morgana chuckled. "Yes, I know darling," the woman said, raffling her hair. Aithusa made a noise of protest, covering her head. Morgana shook her head fondly before Merlin wrapped her in a hug. She hugged him back as Mordred scooped up his sister and threw her on the couch. Aithusa began laughing and the two began rough-housing around. Merlin chuckled as he pulled away from Morgana to look at their kids. Said woman smiled. "We made a couple of good kids, didn't we?"

"We did," Merlin agreed. "We really did..."


	2. Chapter 2

**Blah blah disclaimers, you know I don't own anything, so voila.**

Chapter 2

By the time her stepfather had dropped Aithusa off, the girl was already mentally mapping out the events of the day. Aithusa nodded when he asked her if she had everything and shook her head when Gwaine asked if she wanted him to walk her to the front. She would never hear the end of that if he did, and she never allowed him to. That never stopped him from asking, however.

Aithusa walked into the school and instantly sank against the wall, trying to blend in with the walls. She held her bag close to her and kept her head down. She could hear what to her sounded like everything that everyone was saying. It didn't take long before several of the talking turned into something related to her. The young girl held in her flinch as she opened her locker and began retrieving the books that she needed. A hand slammed onto the locker beside her and she did flinch then, keeping her focus on her books, despite her hands beginning to shake.

"Hey freak," the kid next to her sneered. "Ever figure out how to make your hair normal?" His name was Julius and he was one of the better bullies. This, quite honestly, didn't say a lot about him. Being one of the better bullies just meant that he avoided hitting her face and giving her permanent damage. Aithusa quickly finished putting her books into her bag and closed her locker, hoping to get to class before anything happened. She had no such luck. Julius grabbed her wrist tightly and she gulped. "I asked you a question, freak." Cruelty glimmered in his eyes and the white haired girl pulled against him with a weak whimper. "Hmm? What was that?"

"Get off of her Borden," a different voice said in annoyance and someone pulled Julius back, causing him to release his prisoner. "You're blocking the door." Aithusa took a couple of steps back, eyes wide as she leaned against the wall. The newcomer was tall, with black hair and dark brown eyes. With a jolt, Aithusa recognized him as the one that had been looking at her yesterday. Their eyes met and she instantly looked at the ground.

"Solo," scowled Julius, pulling away angrily. "What's your problem? Can't I ask the freak a question?" The newcomer, evidentially named 'Solo', frowned at him, brown eyes getting angry.

"She's not a freak so leave her alone," Solo snapped. "Now get to class before I hit you myself." Julius flinched and instantly scrambled away from the, quite honestly, rather intimidating 13 year old Solo. Said boy watched him run in satisfaction before turning his gaze back to the white haired Aithusa. "Are you alright?" he asked her gently. Aithusa shakily nodded and Solo gave a small sigh of relief. "Good. I'm Ben Solo." He gave her a small smile. She gave a weak smile back, though her blue eyes were worried and a bit scared. Aithusa pushed herself off of the wall and gave him a small wave before turning away and starting to move towards her class, not entirely trusting him. Sure, he'd saved her, but what did he want? Maybe he was worse, maybe he just wanted Julius to leave her alone so he could have his fun with her. Aithusa gulped. That did not sound fun for her at all. She was relieved when he didn't chase after her and ducked into her classroom, sliding into her seat with a sigh of relief.

 **… … … _Timeskip_ … … … …**

Aithusa couldn't wait to get out of her last class. She couldn't wait to get home, to her mother and her brother, to the video games, to her bed, to two and a half days of peace before returning to this, pardon her language, hellhole. She practically flew out of class once they were dismissed, getting to her locker and tossing her unneeded books inside. Someone cleared her throat beside her and Aithusa practically flew out of her skin, whirling around. Ben stood there, smiling awkwardly. She cocked her head at him in confusion and rapidly signed something before silently groaning. He probably couldn't understand her at all. So she just offered him a smile.

Ben cleared his throat and extended a hand towards her. She shook it. "So," the boy said, running a hand through his hair. "I was thinking that maybe that I should check up on you after…earlier." Aithusa blinked in surprise at that. He wanted to check up on her? This was new. She gave him a small shrug and a small smile of thanks. "Can…could I walk with you?" Cue more surprise for Aithusa along with a hesitant nod of her head. She closed her locker, books in her bag and began to walk. Ben fell into step beside her and the two walked in comfortable silence. They reached the front of the school and Aithusa spotted her mother standing by her car, talking with a short woman with her hair in a braided bun. Aithusa turned to Ben and signed "thank you" to him before turning and running towards her mother.

Morgana laughed and scooped up her daughter, spinning her around. She kissed the top of her head and Aithusa smiled broadly.  
"How was school darling?" the black haired woman asked. Aithusa began to sign to her quickly and turned to point at Ben. To her surprise, he was walking slowly towards them. The woman with the braided hair sighed.

"Well, it was nice to meet you Morgana. Ben, come on, we need to get home before your father throws a fit," she said. Ben hunched his shoulders and slowly got into the car. Aithusa frowned and gave him a small wave, which he returned after a moment of hesitation. Then, he and his mother were off. Aithusa turned to Morgana, still frowning a little. The raven haired woman nodded.

"I know sweetie, I know," she said quietly. "Now come on, let's head home."

 **That bully was Julius Borden. Remember him? *waits* Nope, didn't think so (unless you are a very big Merlin fan). He's the dude that wanted to enslave Aithusa after he stole her egg. And yes, I know she's a bit wimpy and such but relax, it'll get better. And for my darling friend (you know who you are), the Leia/Han angst will be coming up shortly, sit tight.**


End file.
